JPH0359554B2 - - Google Patents

Abstract

A junction block comprises a pair of first and second cover cases each having an inner surface and an outer surface, the inner surface grooves therein; a plurality of electrical conductors each having a first portion, a second portion, and a middle portion therebetween, the first portion being received in a groove of the first cover case and the second portion being received in a groove of the second cover case; contact-terminals inserted into the cover cases through the grooves to protrude through the outer surfaces of the first and second cover cases for electrical connection with external circuits as well as the conductors; the first cover case being piled on the second cover case such that the respective inner surfaces face each other; and insulating partitioning means sandwiched between the first and second cover cases.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Object of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a branch connector suitable for mutually branching and connecting electric wires constituting a wire harness.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Conventionally, a branch connection box as shown in FIG. 6 has been widely used to branch and connect electric wires constituting a wire harness. This is done by stacking busbars 2, 2', 2'', which are connected to a plurality of tabs (male contact parts 2a, 2a', 2a'', respectively) using insulating substrates 3, 3', and The tab group is housed in the case 1 and the lower case 4, and the tab group is made to protrude into the connector insertion part 5 formed in the upper case 1 or the lower case 4, and the connector for the electric wire led out from the wire harness is inserted into the insertion part 5 (Fig. (not shown).In the figure, 6 indicates a female-female relay terminal.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the equivalent circuit of the busbar in the branch connection box, and shows four tabs a, b, c, d.
One circuit (busbar) is used to take out the . Therefore, in order to form a branch circuit using a bus bar and take out the tab group to a predetermined position of the branch connection box, the tabs 2a, 2a', . . .
As shown in the figure, it is necessary to protrude in various positions up and down, and in order to arrange (group) tabs from different busbars together, it is necessary to route the busbars and connect them to other busbars. It is difficult to design due to interference between the parts, and it takes a lot of time to assemble.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 61-45575 discloses that a specific group of electric wires 7 are pulled out from a wire harness W, and these are housed and sandwiched in parallel in an upper case 8 and a lower case 9. A connector insertion part 1 in which a group of wires 7 is press-fitted into a slot 12 in a pressure contact part 11 of a pressure contact terminal 10, and a male contact part 13 on the opposite side of the pressure contact part 11 is formed in the upper case 8.
4, and the connector 1 of the other wire group 7' pulled out from the wire harness W into the insertion portion 14.
A technique is disclosed in which branch circuits are formed centrally by inserting wires 5 and interconnecting wire groups 7 and 7'.

However, in this branch connector, the installation of the pressure contact terminal 10 is limited to one side of the upper case 12, and the male contact part 13 is grouped, that is, the insertion part 14
Considering the formation position and number of wires, it is difficult to increase the density, and the structure is such that the wire group 7 drawn out from the wire harness W is directly incorporated into the branch connector, so it is necessary to assemble the two separately. This makes the manufacturing process complicated.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a branch connector that can form branch circuits at a higher density and that can be easily grouped and manufactured to accommodate external connection wires. do.

Structure of the invention [Means for solving the problem] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes the following:
A plurality of conductors having a predetermined length, a set of cover cases in which one half of each of the conductor groups are arranged side by side, and a pressure contact terminal that is inserted into the cover case and has a male contact portion on one side. and a press-contact terminal having a press-contact part with a conductor press-fitting groove formed on the other side, the male contact part protruding from the top surface of each cover case to form an insertion part for an external contact wire connector, and the press-contact terminal The part protrudes from the back side of each cover case to press-fit the conductor into the conductor press-fit groove, and the pair of cover cases, to which the conductor and the pressure contact terminal are press-fitted, sandwich the insulating partition plate and connect the conductor group to the conductor press-fit groove. A configuration with a multiple structure in which the external connection wires are folded and overlapped approximately in the center and branched and connected to each other via pressure contact terminals and conductor groups is adopted.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

〔Example〕

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a branch connector according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 1, and Figs. 4 a to f are the same branch connections as above. A diagram of the box assembly process is shown.

In these figures, reference numerals 20 and 20' are cover cases, and the upper surface is formed with insertion portions 21, 21', 21'', etc. for connectors for external connection electric wires, and the lower surface is provided with a step 22 approximately in the center. It is divided into a low stage surface 23 and a high stage surface 24, and each surface 23, 24 has a plurality of conductor arrangement grooves 25 arranged in parallel, and each groove 25 has the respective insertion portions 21, 21', 21''... A terminal press-fit hole 26 corresponding to the cover case 20, 20' is provided with a locking protrusion 27 on each of the low step surface 23 and the high step surface 24 on both longitudinal sides of the cover case 20, 20'. (Figure 4a).

28 is a pressure contact terminal, which has a male contact portion 2 on one side.
9 and a press-contacting part 30 with a wire press-fitting groove 31 on the other side, and the male contact part 29 is inserted into each insertion part 21, 21', 2 from the terminal press-fitting hole 26.
It protrudes toward the 1" side and is press-fitted and fixed (Fig. 4b).

32 is a conductor such as an insulated single wire (copper wire) having a certain length, and the cover case 20,
Conductor arrangement grooves 25, 2 in the low step surface 23 of 20'
5, the wire press-fit 31 of the pressure contact terminal 28
(Fig. 4c).

Reference numeral 33 denotes a first insulating partition plate, which has electric wire arrangement grooves 3 corresponding to the electric wire arrangement grooves 25 on both the front and back surfaces thereof.
4 are arranged in parallel, and a locking frame 35 is provided on both sides, and the arrangement of the conductor 32 and the pressure contact terminal 2 are
Cover case 20, 2 after the press-fit connection in step 8
0' and is locked by engagement between the locking frame 35 and the locking protrusion 27. This insulating partition plate 33 allows a pair of cover cases 20, 2
The lower surface of 0' becomes flush (Fig. 4d).

A conductor 32' having a length approximately twice that of the conductor 32 is disposed between the conductor grooves 25 and 25 of the cover cases 20 and 20', which are flush with each other. The electric wire press-fitting groove 31 of the press-fitting terminal 28 is press-fitted in the same manner as described above (FIG. 4e).

Reference numeral 33' denotes a second insulating partition plate, which has the same length as the cover cases 20, 20', has electric wire installation grooves 34' arranged in parallel on both the front and back sides, and protrudes upward and downward from both sides. Locking frames 35', 35'' are provided.

This second insulating partition plate 33' is covered by the cover case 2.
0, 20', conductor 32,
Fold back at the center of 32', both cover cases 20,
By overlapping 20', the branch connector shown in FIG. 1 is assembled. The insulating partition plate 33' is
The two cover cases 20, 20' are locked by locking frames 35' and 35'' (FIG. 4f).

[Effect]

Figure 5 shows the conductor 3 of the branch connector with the above configuration.
An example of an equivalent circuit of a branch circuit formed by 2 and 32' and the pressure contact terminal 28 is shown. As is clear from this figure, the conductors 32, 32' are divided into two large groups by a pair of cover cases 20, 20', so the four tabs a', b' and
Grouping with c' and d' is done very naturally, unlike the case of FIG. 7 which shows the conventional example.

Therefore, the branch connector of the present invention has conductors 32, 3
2' is divided into two parts so that branch connections can be made from both the front and back sides, simplifying branch circuits with more complicated circuit configurations and grouping branch connections (insertion parts 21, 21', 21''... ) can be facilitated.

In addition, the conductors 32, 32' forming the branch circuit are
Since the wires that make up the wire harness do not need to be used directly, they can be manufactured separately.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is a cover case 2.
Although this is an example in which the conductors are stacked in four stages with steps 22 provided at 0 and 20', the same applies to the case of two stages.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, unlike conventional branch connections using tabs on busbars, there is no restriction such as interference with other busbars, and design and manufacture are easy. This method simplifies complex circuits, enables diverse grouping of branch connections, and can be manufactured separately from wire harnesses that require branch connections, resulting in high productivity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the branch connector of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- of FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional branch junction box, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an equivalent circuit of the same, and FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing another conventional example. 20, 20'...Cover case, 21, 21',
21″...Insertion part (of the connector), 28...Insulation terminal, 29...Male contact part, 30...Insulation part, 3
1...Wire press-fit groove, 32, 32'...Conductor, 33
...(first) insulating partition plate, 33'...(second)
Insulated partition plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of conductors having a predetermined length, and a set of cover cases in which each half of the conductor group is arranged side by side,
a pressure contact terminal to be inserted into the cover case, the pressure contact terminal having a male contact portion on one side and a pressure contact portion in which a conductor press-fitting groove is formed on the other side; It protrudes from the top surface of the cover case to form an insertion part for the connector of the external connection wire,
The pressure contact portion protrudes from the back side of each cover case and press-fits the conductor into the conductor press-fit groove, and the pair of cover cases to which the conductor and pressure contact terminal are press-fit connects the conductor by sandwiching the insulating partition plate. 1. A branch connector having a multiple structure in which the external connection wires are folded and overlapped at approximately the center of the group and are branch-connected to each other via pressure contact terminals and conductor groups.